A Legacy Unfinished
by Relinquished
Summary: [dropped] Sequel to 'Identity'. When the past finally catches up to them, Seto, Ryou and Yami must sort out their emotions. Darkshipping, Euroshipping
1. New Beginnings

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A Legacy Unfinished

Disclaimer: needless to say, if YGO belonged to me, this wouldn't be called a _fan_fic and I wouldn't be posting this on fanfiction.net

Summary: Sequel to 'Identity'. The legacy carries on in a new timeline – modern Domino. Ryou and Seto face new problems the legacy holds in store for them. Semi-AU Duellist Kingdom and Battle City S/R YY/R

Chapter Title: A New Beginning

Warnings: yaoi, OOC, semi-AU, weirdness of character and DK, BC plot changing! If you don't like, DON'T READ! No one's holding a gun to your head and FORCING you to read this! And all flames will go to burning Anzu/Tea, and assisting Baku and Marik in their evil schemes.

Author's Notes: I think it would be safe to say that people were generally okay with the ending of 'Identity' . . . and I was afraid that people didn't like it. Anyway, this fic is a bit weird and the first chapter might seem a bit rushed, especially with the meeting of Seto and Ryou and the characters are a little, some more than others, OOC.

Before I forget, when I say 'Alternate Universe', I mean that the yamis are in separate bodies from their hikaris. Yami is Yugi's older brother, Bakura is Ryou's and Marik is Malik's . . . like inside 'Identity'. The yamis are the Duellists, but they're all there, okay? I know the gang calls Ryou by either 'Bakura' or 'Bakura-kun', but in this he's still going to be Ryou and Y.B. will be called Bakura.

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Chapter One: A New Beginning

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"Ohayou minna!" (Good morning everyone!)

Sixteen-year-old Bakura Ryou caught up with his friends as they walked to school. He narrowly missed crashing into Yugi as he skidded to a stop, but Yami caught him just as he tripped. The younger boy grinned up at him sheepishly and extracted himself from Yami's arms.

"Ah, gomen, Yami-kun!" he apologised. (Sorry, Yami!)

"Daijoubu ka, Ryou-kun?" (Are you all right, Ryou?)

"Ee, boku wa daijoubu." (Yeah, I'm all right)

They walked to school together, laughing and chatting as always. Jounouchi and Honda showed both Yugi and Ryou some new game inside a magazine, pointing and talking excitedly. It was called 'Duel Monsters' and was similar to that of the one Yami and Jounouchi played, called 'Magic and Wizards'.

"The graphics are _way_ better," Jounouchi pointed out. "Look, they have more info and stuff written on the cards! _Plus_ it's made by a guy in America!"

"Yami-kun, mite!" (Yami, look!)

Ryou held up the magazine advertising Duel Monsters. The older teen grinned and looked at it closely; crimson eyes alight with interest. This group of high school teens loved games and Yami especially loved Magic and Wizards. Seeing his favourite game 'new and improved' was fascinating for him.

"Jiichan's got stock on this game," he told the gang. "I was helping him display them yesterday."

"Ne, how come I didn't know?" Yugi asked, pouting.

"You were asleep as soon as you got home from school."

The gang laughed as Yugi blushed sheepishly. Yami pulled out his Magic and Wizards' deck, then reached into his other pocket and pulled out something similar. Imprinted on the back of the cards was a brownish swirl that looked somewhat like a black hole, only brown. They stared, wide-eyed.

"_A Duel Monsters' deck?_" they exclaimed. "Sugoi!" (Wow, cool!)

"I gotta get one of them," Jounouchi decided. "I'm coming over after school, today, Yami. You have to show me some new cards, k?"

"Sure."

Anzu looked at her watch and gasped.

"Hayaku, minna!" she yelped. "We're gonna be late!" (Hurry everyone!)

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At lunchtime, Yami showed them his new deck, specially designed by himself. He pointed out his favourites, some of the newer cards and improved old ones. The gang crowded around him to study them, pointing out things that stood out and fighting for a view of the new cards.

"Isn't that the Black Magician, Yami?" Honda asked.

"Sou." (Yes)

"It looks so much better than Magic and Wizards. I mean, at least he doesn't look _ill_ all the time. Oh! Look at this one! Isn't that . . ."

Meanwhile, a bit further away, Ryou sat underneath another tree, reading a book. He didn't like crowds, even if more than half of them was his close friends. Sure, he liked hanging around them and all, but sometimes he felt intimidated by their loud, outgoing attitudes, having been basically raised in a secluded environment.

"Why are you reading again, baka Ryou?"

The boy looked up in shock, before relaxing as he saw whom it was. His older brother, known to everyone as Bakura, smirked back down at him. A known troublemaker, Bakura was the same age as Yami and his biggest rival in almost everything. Including games.

"Niisan," Ryou sighed. (Big brother)

"What book is it _this_ time, baka otouto?" He grabbed the book, with a half-hearted protest from Ryou. "'Moby Dick'? What's that? Is it some sort of porn?" (Stupid little brother)

"_Iie!_" Ryou cried, flushing. "It's a classic novel!" (No!)

"About?"

"A _whale_."

"You read books about whales in your spare time?"

Bakura raised an eyebrow at his younger brother while Ryou glared at him indignantly. He grabbed the book back, marked the page and hugged it to his chest protectively. The older teen sighed impatiently and sat down next to him.

"You gotta get out more."

"And what? Jig school with your flunkies? No thanks, niisan."

'Jigging' school was another term for cutting classes, or skipping school. Bakura was notorious for that, and rule breaking. He was part of a 'flunkies' group, one that comprised of guys who were on the brink of being kicked out from school, or who planned on dropping out. Needless to say, both Ryou and Bakura had to keep this bit of information from their archaeologist father, who was always away on business trips to keep track of their school records.

"Aw, shame, Ryou," Bakura sighed mockingly. "You'd fit right in. You know, we'd liven up your social life."

He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, along with a lighter. Putting one in his mouth, Bakura lit it and took a drag. When he breathed it out, Ryou frowned and took it away from him, smothering it on the dirt.

"Oi, that's not nice."

"Smoking can kill you," Ryou said firmly.

"I'll live." Bakura opened the pack again. Ryou snatched that away too. "Don't be like that, Ryou!"

"If tousan _ever_ found out about this disgusting habit, he'd kill you." (Father)

"That's _if_, my dear otouto." Bakura slung a casual arm around his little brother's shoulders. "And you're going to help me keep it a secret." (Little brother)

Ryou sighed.

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Yugi and the others went to the Kame Game Shop after school, but Ryou declined Yami's offer of helping him construct a deck and walked home on his own. His apartment was about half an hour's walk from school and it was a fairly lonely and quiet walk.

"I'll walk you, Ryou-kun," Yami offered.

"Iie, daijoubu yo." Ryou smiled. "I can get home myself. Have fun, minna." (No, I'm all right)

They left in the opposite direction. Smiling, Ryou turned around and walked in the direction of his home. His mind drifted off into space as he walked, thinking about everything except where he was going. And one should never walk _anywhere_ without paying attention to the road.

There was a screech of tyres and Ryou fell backwards, jarring his ankle in the process. The motorcycle swerved dangerously and onto its side, before the rider jumped off and hurried over to him.

"Daijoubu ka?"

"Un, I'm fine." Ryou winced as he sat up. (Yeah)

He looked up and found himself staring into blue eyes. Bright, blue eyes, as clear as sapphires . . . he shook himself out of his trance-like state when the other person offered a hand. Taking it, Ryou struggled to stand up, only to fall back down again when a sharp pain shot through his ankle.

"Itai . . ." (It hurts . . .)

"Come on, I'll give you a ride home," the person offered.

Now that Ryou had recovered enough to realise what was going on, he recognised the person who had almost run him over. He barely bit back a terrified squeak as Kaiba Seto, CEO of Kaiba Corporation and his classmate, led him over to the motorcycle. When it had been righted, the CEO helped him onto the bike and got on as well.

"Gomen nasai, Kaiba-kun," Ryou whispered. "I'm bothering you, aren't I?" (I'm very sorry)

"Iie, I almost didn't see you," Kaiba replied. "It's my fault. Now, where do you live . . .? I don't think I know your name."

"Call me Ryou," the albino said. "Otherwise you'll get me confused with my niisan, who everyone calls Bakura."

"All right, Ryou," Kaiba said. "Now, where do you live?"

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They arrived at his apartment complex and Ryou invited Kaiba upstairs and inside to sit down. By now, Ryou's ankle was badly bruised and starting to swell. He barely managed to climb the stairs, before Kaiba carried him on his back the rest of the way.

"I'm sorry to bother you again."

"It's all right." Kaiba stopped at the top of the fourth floor stairs. "Which way now?"

"Left." As Kaiba walked, Ryou gave directions. "And then you turn right, go straight ahead and my apartment's number 437. Would you like to come in for a moment? Or are you busy?"

Kaiba considered his offer. From what Yugi-tachi had told him, Ryou knew Kaiba Seto to be a cold and ruthless competitor, ingenious as well. He rarely showed compassion to anyone and whatever he said basically went. He was wealthy enough to buy up the whole city, if not most of Japan, and he had apparently been an indirect cause of his stepfather's death.

Such talk from the others had convinced Ryou that Kaiba was someone to be feared. He had captured Yugi and Yami's grandfather once, over Magic and Wizards _card_ and his reputation, as the world's best gamer. Someone who would go to such extreme measures to get what he wanted was really someone to be feared. A little like Bakura, only with more access to almost everything.

"I'm afraid not," Kaiba said finally. "I have a board meeting in a few minutes. You'll be okay on your own?"

He didn't _seem_ like someone to be feared. Ryou smiled briefly at him.

"Sure. Arigatou, Kaiba-kun." (Thanks)

"Give me your number," the CEO said suddenly.

"Nani?" (What?)

"How am I supposed to know if you're not going to sue me for this incident?" he asked. "I'll have to make sure you're all right."

"Daijoubu, Kaiba-kun," Ryou stammered, a little freaked. "I-I'm not about to sue _you_ over something that I had fault in also. It's perfectly all right."

"Are you going to give me your number, or will I have to come _personally_ to check up on you?" Kaiba demanded. "I'm not a very patient person, Bakura Ryou, and if you _don't_ give me that damned phone number, I will _force_ it from you. What's it going to be?"

"H-Hai."

Ryou hastily scribbled down his phone numbers (he had a cell phone as well) and handed them to the CEO. Nodding curtly, Kaiba left him in front of his apartment door. The albino breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad Kaiba was gone. The guy had major problems with his attitude. One minute he seemed to care, the next he was just _evil_.

He unlocked the door and let himself in, shaking his head in amusement. Evil was probably too strong a word to use on Kaiba. Perhaps _cold_ was a better word, or antisocial. He certainly hadn't seen the CEO at school very often, so he could deduce that the other didn't get out much.

__

Well, that was an interesting experience.

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Kaiba Seto pocketed the piece of paper with a frown. He was serious about the suing thing and it was better to be safe than sorry, even if he may have damaged his reputation in the process. If that boy – Ryou, or whatever his name was – told _anyone_ about what he did when they got back to school tomorrow, he would not hesitate to march over to his apartment and wring the life out of him.

He snorted. Oh yeah, he could see the headlines: _Kaiba Seto Almost Kills Classmate in Road Accident: The Victim Tells All!_ Then his reputation would sink to an all-time low, his company would fail and that would be the end of the Kaiba Empire. _That_ was why he took such measures to ensure the boy was okay.

But there was another thing strange about that boy. He was almost certain he had seen him somewhere before. There was something familiar about that silvery hair . . . or maybe he was just experiencing dejavu after visiting the nursing home for a charity event. He settled for the nursing home. After all, that was perhaps the only place where one could see many whitish-haired people all at once. That Ryou kid was just . . . strange.

As he kicked the engine to life on his bike, Kaiba wondered what could have possibly possessed him to give Ryou a ride. Usually he could care less about what happened to someone who fell and sprained their ankle. But he could probably explain it with the suing reason again. It seemed to be his main reason for being nice – and he usually was 'nice' whenever he did something wrong and didn't bother saying sorry. He hated saying sorry as much as he hated being sued. Maybe that was why he was so antisocial.

And that didn't mean he _always_ got sued. No, just enough for him to hate it. Which wasn't a lot – seriously. He didn't mean to _purposely_ get into trouble. It was always by accident that something went wrong and the victim found it necessary to sue. Like that time when that kid collided with his briefcase. And the other time when . . . if he continued those thoughts he would be well on the way to proving himself wrong. And he didn't want that.

When he stopped at a red light, he heard his cell phone ringing. He hated cell phones, no matter what anyone else thought. They were the most annoying things in the world. Especially when he owned one that rang more often than not. And _always_ on the other end was one incompetent fool or other who needed his help on things that even his younger brother Mokuba could fix.

He was glad however, that he had a hands-free set. Pressing the button to answer the phone on his earpiece, Kaiba waited for the lights to change.

"Kaiba."

"Kaiba-sama, we've encountered a problem with the duelling arenas in KaibaLand."

"What's wrong this time?" he snapped.

"The images are flickering a lot . . ."

"There's probably a loose part within the 3D simulator," he said impatiently, noting that the light _still_ hadn't changed. "Get whoever's duelling there _off_ and onto another, then send for the technicians. You're supposed to be _professionals._ Don't come running to _me_ when something so minute comes up."

"Hai, Kaiba-sama."

He hung up. Kami-sama he _hated_ it when those so-called professional employees of his proved themselves to be useless over and over again. And couldn't they be more precise about their descriptions of faults? 'The images are flickering a lot . . .' yeah, he was _really_ going to know what to do from such a vague description.

And, to his annoyance, the light _still_ hadn't changed. It had been around two minutes already and there hadn't been any sign of traffic from _anywhere_ around him. That did it. He was going to get someone to complain about it.

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End Chapter One

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Author's Notes:

How did you like the first chappie of the sequel? I noticed that Seto was OOC, especially when he whinged and complained (internally) in that last part. Oops.

And yeah, like I said, that may have been a bit rushed.

I officially declare that Seto/Ryou are the best!

Wait, I've already done so before . . .

Oh well.

Please review and tell me what you thought.

Relinquished


	2. Disagreements

A Legacy Unfinished

Disclaimer: needless to say, if YGO belonged to me, this wouldn't be called a _fan_fic and I wouldn't be posting this on fanfiction.net

Summary: Sequel to 'Identity'. The legacy carries on in a new timeline – modern Domino. Ryou and Seto face new problems the legacy holds in store for them. Semi-AU Duellist Kingdom and Battle City S/R YY/R

Chapter Title: Disagreements

Warnings: yaoi, OOC, semi-AU, weirdness of character and DK, BC plot changing! If you don't like, DON'T READ! No one's holding a gun to your head and FORCING you to read this! And all flames will go to burning Anzu/Tea, and assisting Baku and Marik in their evil schemes.

Author's Notes: I think it would be safe to say that people were generally okay with the ending of 'Identity' . . . and I was afraid that people didn't like it.

Before I forget, when I say 'Alternate Universe', I mean that the yamis are in separate bodies from their hikaris. Yami is Yugi's older brother, Bakura is Ryou's and Marik is Malik's . . . like inside 'Identity'. The yamis are the Duellists, but they're all there, okay? I know the gang calls Ryou by either 'Bakura' or 'Bakura-kun', but in this he's still going to be Ryou and Y.B. will be called Bakura.

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Chapter Two: Disagreements

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The next morning, Ryou's ankle had not healed entirely. It was still swollen, though not as prominently as it had been the day before. Bakura hadn't come home all night, making Ryou think that he was doing something wrong _again_. He had to cook dinner himself and it was a pain having to do so on a badly sprained ankle.

He didn't want to miss school – they were being assigned some sort of minor assignment and one of their other assignments were due also. He had spent a lot of time on that assignment and he didn't want to lose marks for it, which he was bound to do if he missed school today.

So he was carefully putting the assignment in his school bag – precious thirty pages of graphics and information – the doorbell rang. He looked momentarily confused. Seven in the morning was _not_ a time he had expected to have guests.

"Ee?! Kaiba-kun?"

And indeed Kaiba Seto stood at the door, eyeing him critically. Ryou gulped. The CEO's stare was like an X-ray, piercing. His features were set in an expressionless, yet hard, way. The albino stepped aside a little to let him in.

"Ohayou," he greeted weakly.

"You shouldn't be working that ankle," Kaiba said flatly.

Ryou just stared. What sort of a greeting was that? Normal people would start with a 'good morning', or a 'hi', but _no_, Kaiba had to be special and say 'you shouldn't be working that ankle'. He wouldn't have to work his ankle if he hadn't been alone in the house with no one to help him!

"You're early, Kaiba-kun." He decided it was best if he _didn't_ repeat those thoughts aloud. "What brought on this visit?"

He expected the CEO would say something along the lines of 'making sure you're in one piece while you get to school so I don't get sued', but what he really _did_ say surprised the boy.

"You're not going to school, not if I can help it."

"Nani?!"

"You heard what I said," Kaiba said impatiently. "You're going to stay here and rest that ankle of yours. I will have someone bring in your assignments and work so that you will not lose marks."

"Why do you care?"

The words slipped out so quickly, Ryou immediately wished for them back. Kaiba was looking really annoyed. The albino supposed it was because no one had ever dared question his orders or his authority. But he didn't _have_ authority here, especially since he was in Ryou's apartment. Yet he seemed to wield a lot of it everywhere he went.

"G-Gomen nasai," Ryou mumbled.

"I'll call a doctor."

That simple sentence could have been taken a couple of different ways, Ryou noted silently. For one, it could have translated into somewhat an expression of concern for his ankle. Another way was that Kaiba had finally decided that Ryou was insane for talking back at him and was sending him to a mental asylum for treatment. Ryou silently wondered whether he would get a nice, padded room or not, should he be admitted inside.

He would certainly _prefer_ one.

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Kaiba watched the other teen thanking the doctor and the said doctor being shown to the door by a bodyguard of his. He also noticed how awkward he behaved when either the CEO himself or the bodyguard came near him. Kaiba supposed it was just because he wasn't used to authority, being so quiet and shy.

"Anou . . . Kaiba-kun," Ryou now stammered. "Are you sure you're going to stay the _whole_ day? It's very early and you _must_ have something else to do."

"I made sure my schedule was free for today," Kaiba replied easily. "Until, of course, another member of your family – say, your mother – comes back."

"My kaasan is dead."

He had to strain his ears to hear that last sentence, whispered barely audibly from the pale boy's lips. Ryou was looking decidedly depressed, staring hard at his lap and biting his bottom lip. Guilt and, surprisingly, empathy welled up inside his chest.

"Gomen."

Ryou raised his eyes, startled, but Kaiba spoke again.

"When did it happen?"

"T-Three years ago. She was in a plane accident."

Three years . . . Kaiba had to feel sorry for him. He must still remember his mother then. For him, he didn't remember much, since his own parents had died when he was very, very young. He knew he had a younger brother somewhere, but they had been forced into separate orphanages, since he was too young to do anything about it. He had been adopted by the late CEO of Kaiba Corporation a year or two into his stay at the orphanage.

"I live with my niisan, Bakura," Ryou continued quietly. "But he's rarely ever home. Tousan is always away on digs because he is an archaeologist. The last time the three of us actually sat down together was around the same time kaasan passed away."

"It must have been hard for you then."

Ryou smiled sadly.

"I've gotten over it," he said. "I wasn't really close to her anyway."

They sat in awkward silence, before Kaiba cleared his throat and walked to the bookshelf, studying the books. He seemed particularly interested in the books on ancient history, especially the ones about Domino. Ryou limped over, earning himself a disapproving glare from the taller teen.

"Gomen," Ryou apologised.

"Never mind."

"You like history?"

"Un." Kaiba looked at the book on Domino's ancient history. "But my adoptive father didn't approve of my interest, so I haven't studied history outside of school."

Ryou saw the light in his eyes and he pulled the book out from the shelf and handed it to Kaiba, who just looked at it with a slight hint of uncertainty. The albino smiled and motioned for him to take it.

"You can borrow this," he said.

When Kaiba failed to make anything of it, Ryou took one of his hands and pressed the book into it securely. The CEO clasped it, still very quiet.

"Take your time reading it," Ryou continued, "because it's a pretty long, but _very_ interesting read. You don't have to give it back any time soon."

No one had ever lent him anything, even if it was a book. Or at least, no one had lent it to him of free will – he always had to ask that person. And he didn't like asking. But Ryou . . . the albino just let him borrow it without him even asking, as if he had read his mind. He had gotten used to the fact that he had to work for what he wanted and if he didn't, then he wasn't getting it.

"Arigatou," he murmured, barely above a whisper.

"You're welcome."

--------

Yami looked worriedly at the empty place at the base of the tree Ryou usually sat reading. He hadn't come to school today and, frankly, the tri-colour haired teen was worried. He didn't seem to be too well yesterday, quieter than usual. Usually, the albino wouldn't pass up a chance to go to the Kame Game Shop to look at new arrivals.

"Worrying about Ryou-kun?" Yugi asked.

"Ee."

"He's okay, I bet," Jounouchi laughed, as Honda slipped on a banana peel on the way to the rubbish bin. "HAHA! HONDA YOU STACKED IT!"

"Damare," Honda growled.

As the brunette picked himself up from the ground, Yami sighed and just looked at Ryou's place with a frown. Ryou didn't miss school if he could help it, so he must have had a good reason to this morning.

"You look like a lovesick fanboy," a voice sneered.

He looked up at his fellow classmate and rival, Bakura. Ryou's older brother was smirking in a self-satisfied way, propped up against the table's edge, where Yami sat brooding. He was smoking again, he noted with disgust.

"Whatcha thinkin about?"

"That's none of your business Bakura."

Bakura looked in the direction Yami had been staring at before. A wicked grin spread across his features as he turned back to the other teen.

"You're thinking about _Ryou_ aren't you?"

"I am not," Yami retorted vehemently.

"Ooh, touchy." Bakura's grin spread even wider. "He's okay you know. At home, resting after that road accident he got in."

"_Road accident?_" Yami jumped to his feet and grabbed Bakura by the collar. "Where did you here that from? You weren't home all night!"

"Heh. One of the guys heard it and told me. I figured he'd be okay, since he has survived worse. All he got was a sprained ankle." Bakura's eyes widened in mock surprise. "Did I mention that it was _Kaiba Seto_ who was driving that damned motorbike that _almost_ hit him? How did you know I wasn't home?"

"You never are," Yami said shortly. He shoved Bakura back and the albino grinned mockingly at him. "I'll deal with you _after_ I check to see if Ryou is all right. It's just your luck I have a free period after lunch."

Picking up his book bag, Yami told Yugi he was going to Ryou's to check up on him, before storming out of the school grounds. The rest of the gang stared at his retreating form before turning back to their conversation. Yami would take care of Ryou, should anything be wrong. They would just swing by after school.

--------

Kaiba's going to _die_, Yami thought angrily.

After signing out of the school attendance record, Yami had taken the quickest route to Ryou's apartment, the way Ryou took when he wasn't walking home with them. The albino had shown him when they had ditched the gang and headed off on their own for some peace and quiet.

The road was very empty, which was what worried Yami the most. Did Ryou take this road frequently? If he did, it would be dangerous. How many times had he let Ryou just walk home by himself, without a companion? Quiet roads, streets and alleys were the most dangerous, without Bakura's gang everywhere.

The teen clenched his teeth angrily. If Kaiba had done anything to harm Ryou . . . he was going to have the CEO's head on a platter, bodyguards or no. Ryou was his closest friend aside from Yugi. They were alike in a lot of ways and they complemented each other well. He would wring the life out of _anyone_ who dared to harm him in any way.

He reached Ryou's apartment complex and noted a sleek, black car parked outside. Not really paying attention to this point, he headed in and sprinted up the stairs two at a time. Apartment 437 came into view and he rang the doorbell.

"Yami-kun?" Ryou's surprised voice met his ears. The boy was dressed in a pale blue, button-up shirt with white jeans (A/N: I have white jeans at home, but I don't like wearing them!). "Why are you here?"

"To check up on you," Yami replied. "Bakura told me you were in an accident yesterday after school. Daijoubu ka?"

"Un, daijoubu." Ryou was blushing as he stepped aside to let Yami in.

"Ryou?" a voice asked. "Who is that?"

Yami whirled to face the speaker, who was currently sitting on the sofa, reading a book. Kaiba Seto looked up from his book and glared at Yami, who glared right back. The CEO had taken off his school jacket and was only wearing the crisp, white shirt, pants and polished black shoes. He was sitting _way_ too comfortably on the sofa for Yami's own comfort.

"What are you doing here Kaiba?"

"I don't see why that's any of your business."

"Kisama . . ."

"Yami-kun, daijoubu," Ryou whispered. "Kaiba-kun is only making sure I don't hurt myself. He helped me home yesterday afternoon and he brought in a doctor to see me this morning."

The CEO remained expressionless at this new revelation, especially when Yami looked at him for confirmation. Kaiba didn't seem like the type to help people out to such an extent, even if Ryou _was_ a classmate. In fact, Kaiba didn't seem the type to help people, period.

Ryou limped to the dining table and pulled out one of the chairs. Yami closed the door behind him as he entered and sat Ryou down on the chair, the albino protesting all the way. He wasn't about to have an _invalid_ doing all the work, unlike Kaiba, who obviously thought that he was too important to answer the door. Yami growled at the back of his throat quietly.

"Shh, Yami-kun, daijoubu." Ryou tugged on his sleeve. "He didn't hurt me."

"Didn't hurt you?" Yami hissed. "That guy ran over you for pity's sake!"

"I'm fine, it's just a sprain after all."

"You should sue."

"I'm not going to, Yami-kun." Ryou was exasperated. "Kaiba-kun helped me and all, so I don't see any reason to sue. Besides, I promised."

Yami set his bag down on the dining table and sat down next to Ryou.

"Yugi's bringing your homework and assignments," he said. "The gang's coming by after school to see how you are."

"Un, arigatou."

Kaiba stood up, closing the book he was reading. He walked over to Ryou and, despite Yami's warning glare, set a hand on the other boy's shoulder.

"I'll come by tomorrow to see how you are."

"No you won't," Yami interrupted. "We're walking to school together tomorrow, so you can just forget it. Save your precious time so you don't have to worry about things that are obviously not important to you."

"Yami-kun . . ."

"Heh," Kaiba snorted disdainfully. "What if Ryou's ankle isn't any better tomorrow morning? You still going to make him walk to school? No, I'm driving him. You can just walk to school by yourself."

"Since when did you start caring anyway?" Yami asked. "You're probably in this so that Ryou-kun won't sue. He's the softest, most compassionate person in existence and you're taking this to your advantage."

"Don't talk about things you don't understand, Mutou," Kaiba spat.

"I understand this perfectly."

"Onegai, yamete," Ryou pleaded, near tears. He hated fighting, since that was all his parents did when they were together. He didn't like listening to arguments and certainly not such heated ones. "Onegai . . . yamete."

"Ryou-kun . . . gomen," Yami murmured, looking down apologetically.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, Ryou," Kaiba said firmly, clasping his shoulder.

The CEO left briskly, the bodyguard – who Yami hadn't noticed until now – following. Yami glared at his back spitefully, before turning and running fingers soothingly through Ryou's long, silky hair. The boy sniffled.

"Gomen Ryou-kun, I shouldn't have yelled like that. I know how much you hate hearing people raise their voices."

"Iie, I caused you inconvenience. Gomen nasai."

"You aren't an inconvenience," Yami said, aghast. "What makes you say that? I _choose_ to worry over you and I think it's my duty to care about your safety."

Ryou blushed as Yami reached over and wiped his eyes carefully.

"Arigatou."

--------

End Chapter Two

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Author's Notes:

Yami/Ryou fluff! I like fluff.

REVIEW!

Relinquished


	3. Together, Or Maybe Not

****

A Legacy Unfinished

Disclaimer: needless to say, if YGO belonged to me, this wouldn't be called a _fan_fic and I wouldn't be posting this on fanfiction.net

Summary: Sequel to 'Identity'. The legacy carries on in a new timeline – modern Domino. Ryou and Seto face new problems the legacy holds in store for them. Semi-AU Duellist Kingdom and Battle City S/R YY/R

Chapter Title: Together . . . Or Maybe Not

Warnings: yaoi, OOC, semi-AU, weirdness of character and DK, BC plot changing! If you don't like, DON'T READ! No one's holding a gun to your head and FORCING you to read this! And all flames will go to burning Anzu/Tea, and assisting Baku and Marik in their evil schemes.

Author's Notes: I think it would be safe to say that people were generally okay with the ending of 'Identity' . . . and I was afraid that people didn't like it.

Before I forget, when I say 'Alternate Universe', I mean that the yamis are in separate bodies from their hikaris. Yami is Yugi's older brother, Bakura is Ryou's and Marik is Malik's . . . like inside 'Identity'. The yamis are the Duellists, but they're all there, okay? I know the gang calls Ryou by either 'Bakura' or 'Bakura-kun', but in this he's still going to be Ryou and Y.B. will be called Bakura.

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Chapter Three: Together . . . Or Maybe Not

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Mokuba blinked at his older brother as the CEO stormed into his office, slamming down his briefcase onto his desk. He furiously switched on the computer, which stirred to life at his command. There were several times the black-haired boy had seen his brother so angry. Those times usually involved Magic and Wizards, or Duel Monsters, KaibaCorp or danger towards either of them. He didn't know which one it was this time.

"Niisama?" he questioned timidly. "Daijoubu ka?"

"Mokuba . . ." Seto turned towards him. "Ee, ore wa daijoubu."

"Where have you been these last two days, after school? I didn't see you."

"At a classmate's house," was the distracted answer. "I had business to take care of there."

"Homework?"

"You could say that."

"Oh."

Seto rummaged around in his briefcase, lifting out files, folders and papers randomly, putting them on his desk. When he straightened, he put them aside on the desk and pulled one of them out and opened it. Then he called up another file from his computer and started working.

"How long will you be working on it for?"

"A week, at most," Seto replied distractedly.

"Can I meet them?"

"Perhaps."

Mokuba smiled.

"Cool! I've never met someone from your school other than Yugi-tachi!" he said enthusiastically. "What's their name?"

The CEO looked up at him. Something flickered in his eyes, but quickly dispersed. He was regarding his younger brother fondly, something he didn't do for anyone else. Mokuba was the only one who had actually made him truly smile before and that still remained.

"Bakura Ryou," he said. "Don't worry, Mokuba, you'll meet him."

Mokuba gave a whoop of joy and left the room, skipping and humming happily. Seto never liked to let him down and this time was no different. He would now have to invite Bakura Ryou over on some occasion or other. He sighed, unable to concentrate on his work.

Why had he decided to help the albino? The suing excuse would not work now, since Ryou had made it obvious that he wasn't going to. Then why did he continue to help the boy? He himself didn't have a reason for it. But there was something about Ryou that gave him a sense of protectiveness, an urge to help him. When he looked at him, he got a feeling of dejavu.

He gaze turned to the book lying on a stack of files. Domino's ancient history – Ryou's book. Why had he felt inclined to take it? Something had drawn him towards it that was for sure. Like something had drawn him towards Duel Monsters and Magic and Wizards – more importantly, the three Blue Eyes White Dragons that were in his possession.

__

It wouldn't hurt to read a little, I guess.

He took the book from the stack and opened it up to the first page. Flipping past the introductions and acknowledgments, he found the first chapter. Domino's history was like any other history, as Seto soon found. There was nothing interesting.

About to put the book away after skimming five or six chapters, something caught his eye at the beginning of the seventh.

__

'The 16th Dynasty – The Rule of the Mutous.'

"Mutou?" he questioned. "As in, Mutou Yami? They're descendants of the rulers of the 16th dynasty?"

--------

Ryou flipped looked through the homework as the others went on to explain what they meant. He was in most of his classes with Yugi and, in some cases, with Anzu and Honda. He had Gym with Jounouchi and study hall with everyone.

He was looking through his Science homework. They were doing the basics of genetics – DNA and the like. He was particularly interested in this topic, for no reason whatsoever, except that he liked it. It was interesting to know how exactly he became an albino . . . even if he wasn't a _full_ one.

" . . . So guys have one of X and Y chromosomes, while girls have two X," Yugi explained, pointing to a diagram. "Other than that, we have 22 other chromosomes from each of our parents. You read through page 168 and answer the questions in the book."

"Arigatou, Yugi-kun. I get it now." He sighed. "I can't believe I missed a class on genetics! It's so cool!"

"Eh? Genetics are _boring_," Jounouchi complained.

"That's because you don't get it, aho," Honda said, hitting him over the head with a book. "Unlike you, Bakura's got a brain he actually _uses_."

"Damare!"

Yami sat across the table from them, doing his own homework, smiling slightly at their antics. He was two years older than they were, which meant he was a senior, and he was preparing for his half-yearly exams. That meant he had to study during whatever spare time he had, on top of doing his homework and assignments. The six of them usually formed a study group after school at Yugi's house, but they had decided to come over to Ryou's to keep him company.

"Ok, and then there's History. You'll like this one, Bakura," Honda said, grinning. "It's Ancient Egypt."

"Yokatta!" Ryou exclaimed, smiling broadly. "Though I still feel a little deprived because I missed such a good lesson."

They all laughed and continued on with their work. Ryou hummed happily as he finished off his Science and History homework then pulled his last bit of homework towards him. He groaned. Math. He _hated_ Math with a passion. Not only was it one of his worst subjects, he had regular pop quizzes in class that really got on his nerves. And to get on Bakura Ryou's nerves was quite extraordinary.

"Heh, you got Math," Jounouchi sniggered. "I don't."

"Just because you didn't have Math today," Anzu said, whacking him over the head. "You imbecile."

"Shimatta!" Yugi yelped, looking at the clock. "I promised jiichan that I'd help him in the store in half an hour! I'll have to see you guys later."

"Ja ne, Yugi-kun," Ryou farewelled, waving as Yugi left.

Anzu, Honda and Jounouchi followed a little later, having finished their homework or found other things they had to do. That left Ryou and Yami alone. The albino struggled through his Math. _Damned trigonometry_, he cursed inwardly. Yami saw him struggling and grinned, scooting over to the other side of the table and peering over his shoulder.

"Oh, that one's simple," he remarked casually. Ryou bit back a yelp. "Here, do you want me to help you with it?"

"H-Hai," Ryou stammered, flushing.

As Yami explained the question to him, Ryou struggled to calm his breathing. What was this? He was surprised easily, yes but not so much as to lose his breath all in one go. And Yami's breath on his cheek . . . he flushed.

"Do you understand now?"

"N-Nani?" he stammered again, looking up into Yami's amused eyes.

"Something wrong?"

"Iie . . ."

"Ryou-kun . . ." Yami's cheeks tinged pink also. "I . . ."

He thought that it would only be in the movies, but it was obvious that coincidences – however annoying – _did_ happen. As he tried to continue what he was about to say, Yami found the phone ringing. Ryou started, looking shaken, before picking up the cordless phone on the tabletop.

"Moshi moshi? Ryou speaking." He paused for a moment, listening to whatever the other person had to say. "Iya, tousan, daijoubu yo. It was just a sprain. No, you don't have to come back straight away. Finish your work."

He sounded a little bitter when he said that. Yami remembered that the boy's father was rarely home and rarely cared about anything to do with the two siblings. Ryou had disguised his disappointment in his father well, but that didn't mean he forgave him for being so negligent. The reason why Bakura was always out of the house was because he didn't want to be burdened with his father's responsibilities, so Ryou was basically more alone than he let on.

"Hai, I'll be more careful next time," Ryou continued. "Iie, tousan, I'm not going to sue. He's helping me to recover already . . . called a doctor and everything . . . I'm fine, nothing was broken . . . I'm not missing schoolwork . . . no . . . _tousan_, I have to go now, I've got work to do."

After a few moments, Ryou hung up with a sigh.

"He says he cares, but I know he only feels obliged to do so," he said ruefully. "I know I remind him of kaasan, but I can't help it."

He looked on the verge of tears. Yami knew the boy was sensitive to more things than the others realised. He was pained when his friends had arguments, but usually didn't show it in public. The issue of his father's absence also hurt him badly and the fact that he was alone most of the time was also a sensitive topic. What Ryou wanted, as he confessed to Yami once, was someone who would always be there for him. An emotional supporter who cared.

"Ryou-kun . . ." Yami pulled the boy against his chest. "Daijoubu yo."

Ryou was content to enjoy the other's warmth as he let go of the misery inside him. Yami always managed to comfort him just by being there. The older teen was his best friend and confidante. He closed his eyes as he felt Yami's fingers comb through his hair gently.

"If you would let me . . ." he heard Yami murmur. "If you would . . . I'll take care of you. Ryou wa suki da."

"Un," he said, feeling oddly warm inside. "I'd like that."

--------

The next day saw Seto, again, at Ryou's door. This time, the person who opened it was Bakura. The elder albino scowled when he saw who was at the door, equally matched by Seto's superior glare. Turning around, Bakura yelled back at Ryou to hurry up.

"Your fuckbuddy is waiting!" he hollered.

"_NIISAN_!" Ryou's voice yelped from somewhere inside the apartment.

Seto grabbed Bakura by the collar, hissing a threat dangerously to his face. The albino smirked before pushing him away and straightening his collar again. Obviously threats didn't work on him. He got them so often, from so many different people, that it got boring after a time. Seto sighed impatiently at him, earning himself yet _another_ smirk from Bakura.

Moments later, Ryou came out from what Seto knew to be his bedroom, fixing up his school uniform. He chirped an 'ohayou' to the CEO, getting a nod in return, before grabbing his schoolbag, whacking Bakura over the head with it, and walking out the door. There was still a slight limp in his step, but the swelling had almost completely faded.

"You didn't have to come this morning, Kaiba-kun," he said quietly as they walked down the stairs. "I'm almost all better."

"Better safe than sorry." Seto raised an eyebrow as they went through the glass doors of the complex. "Besides, I had a question to ask you."

"Question?"

"Ee."

They got into the limousine waiting patiently for them. Seto opened the door, as was polite, for Ryou to get inside. The albino did so hesitantly, having never accessed such luxury before. The CEO got in after him, settling himself down comfortably opposite the boy. He motioned for the chauffeur to start.

"Anou . . . Kaiba-kun, you said you had a question."

"You knew about the 16th Dynasty of Domino, did you not?"

Ryou blinked.

"16th Dynasty?" he chirped. "Hai, the rule of the Mutous."

"I was wondering whether they had any connection to the Mutous now."

The albino tilted his head to the side, blinking again in confusion. Finally, after a few moments, the confusion in his dark eyes cleared up and he smiled.

"I don't know," he said simply. "Perhaps so. I wouldn't be surprised, though, since some of the successors to the throne had many children. I suppose many of us now can trace our ancestors back to this period of history."

Silence reigned after that. Ryou bit his lip and stared down at his lap, uncomfortable in the CEO's presence. He wasn't meant to be here. He was an ordinary, common person, while Seto was the rich and powerful one. Their worlds weren't ever meant to collide.

Seto was thinking about what Ryou had just said. Their ancestors could possibly be traced back to the 16th Dynasty. He had to remember to check it up on his database then. After Gozaburo had adopted him, Seto had recorded all his family histories, which he had saved from his previous home, onto the Kaiba database. Gozaburo was a businessman, not a computer worker, so he never really bothered to check what Seto spent his free time doing.

__

But this is purely out of interest, he reminded himself._ I don't live in the past. I'm only doing this because I want to find out whether or not my family can be dated back that far._

"Have you ever traced back your family?" he asked the albino on impulse.

Ryou smiled nervously.

"Hai. In the late 16th Dynasty, the Bakura household was one of the most prestigious noble families," he said, pride seeping into his voice. "The royal family greatly favoured them and they were respected."

"You bothered looking them up?"

"Of course," Ryou answered. "I read the book too, remember? I became interested in this topic so I went to look up my family history. But I couldn't find which branch of the Bakura line I came from."

--------

"Ohayou."

Ryou blushed when Yami snaked an arm around his waist. The older teen was fairly open with his feelings for him. He let himself be pulled into a tight hold. They were in a quiet part of the school grounds, hidden by the school buildings because they weren't quite sure how the others would react to their relationship.

"Yami-kun . . ."

He was silenced by Yami's finger resting lightly on his lips.

"Sh . . ." the tri-haired teen murmured. "Omae ga suki da."

He'd been saying that ever since they had become 'an item' yesterday afternoon. From what Yami had told him, he'd liked Ryou since he first transferred into the school. At that point, however, he wasn't in the right position to tell him so. Ryou had liked Yami since . . . he had started properly hanging around Yugi-tachi.

"Omae ga suki da."

"Yami-kun," he whispered, exasperated. "I know already."

"Then tell me the same."

Ryou opened his mouth to speak, but stopped suddenly. Yami watched him, confused as to what was going on.

"Daijoubu ka?"

"I-I . . ." the albino trailed off uncertainly. Why couldn't he say it? "I should really be getting to class . . . this is really cutting it slim. I-If I don't get to class on time, I'd get detention."

Yami looked disappointed as Ryou picked up his bag from the ground at his feet and fled, never looking back once. Why had he been so reluctant to tell him that he felt the same? Yami could only wonder about this question, feeling a little twinge of hurt. He thought that Ryou felt the same way about him.

--------

Ryou, meanwhile, stopped in front of his classroom door, breathing heavily. He bit his bottom lip to stop himself from crying. He hadn't meant to run away, but he just couldn't bring himself to say the words. Why was he so damn unsure of himself?

"Ryou, daijoubu ka?"

He looked up to see Seto standing in the doorway, watching him. He nodded slowly, not trusting himself to speak. The CEO shrugged, raising an eyebrow at him. He knew everyone knew when he was lying. He had come to accept the fact that he just _couldn't_ lie.

"If you say so." Seto turned around and walked back into the empty classroom. Their classmates never bothered to come to class until the bell. "Though I believe . . ."

He froze when he felt someone's arms latch tightly around him. Ryou buried his face into the brunette's shoulder, shaking from suppressed sobs. Seto simply stood there while the albino cried onto his back, letting all his frustration and uncertainty out in the only way he knew how.

A few minutes later, Ryou's tears had stopped. He apologised profusely for being a nuisance and let go of him. Seto turned around to see him wiping his face on his sleeve, sniffling. With a sigh, the CEO handed him a handkerchief. He didn't like bringing packets of tissues, preferring handkerchiefs, but he never used them anyway. It was just a habit and he had too many at home.

"Here, keep it," he said shortly. "It's unhygienic to use your sleeve."

"Demo . . ." Ryou looked uncertain.

"I said _take it_." Seto clasped his hand around it.

"A-Arigatou, Kaiba-kun."

__

He's not as bad as Yami-kun seems to think. Sure, he has his mood swings from time to time . . . well, actually, pretty often . . . but he's proven to be nice in a standoffish way. I wonder why he isn't like this all the time?

He followed the CEO inside the classroom, still holding the handkerchief. Not another word passed between them as the bell rang and the class filed in. Yugi-tachi asked after him, having not seen him all morning. He smiled, and said that he was fine, but a bit tired.

__

I can't tell them about Yami-kun and me . . . we've only just begun and already we have this problem between us. Maybe after we – I've_ – sorted out my issues, we can tell them . . ._

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End Chapter Three

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Author's Notes:

All right, just a few points to make. Yami and Ryou have known each other since Ryou started junior high school (according to Japanese schooling levels). That's . . . since they're in first year high school (10th grade) . . . three years. And, of course, Yami's liked Ryou for three years. Ryou starting liking Yami a few months after he started hanging around Yugi-tachi, because he got to know Yami only after he started going to Yugi's house.

Ryou's got issues with his self-esteem, as Seto does with the way he acts around people. Seto's nice to certain people (eg Ryou), but he doesn't know _why_ and he tries to act differently. It's an immediate thing for him to protect and help Ryou, thanks to the prequel 'Identity' and the legacy within, so neither of them know exactly _why_ they're acting that way around each other.

Cleared a few things up? Okay then!

REVIEW!

Relinquished


	4. The Invitation

**A Legacy Unfinished**

Disclaimer: needless to say, if YGO belonged to me, this wouldn't be called a _fan_fic and I wouldn't be posting this on 

Summary: Sequel to 'Identity'. The legacy carries on in a new timeline – modern Domino. Ryou and Seto face new problems the legacy holds in store for them. Semi-AU Duellist Kingdom and Battle City S/R YY/R

Chapter Title: The Invitation

Warnings: yaoi, OOC, semi-AU, weirdness of character and DK, BC plot changing! If you don't like, DON'T READ! No one's holding a gun to your head and FORCING you to read this! And all flames will go to burning Anzu/Tea, and assisting Baku and Marik in their evil schemes.

Author's Notes: I think it would be safe to say that people were generally okay with the ending of 'Identity' . . . and I was afraid that people didn't like it.

Before I forget, when I say 'Alternate Universe', I mean that the yamis are in separate bodies from their hikaris. Yami is Yugi's older brother, Bakura is Ryou's and Marik is Malik's . . . like inside 'Identity'. The yamis are the Duellists, but they're all there, okay? I know the gang calls Ryou by either 'Bakura' or 'Bakura-kun', but in this he's still going to be Ryou and Y.B. will be called Bakura.

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Chapter Four: The Invitation

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_A fragile, beautiful young woman sat forlornly at the window, gazing outside. Her pale hair shone in the moonlight, and her dark eyes were distant . . . sad. A white dove settled on the windowsill in front of her, cooing softly. She reached up a pale hand to stroke its feathers, lost in thought._

"_Not even a goodbye . . ." she whispered. "Why are you so cruel . . .?"_

_The dove cooed again, a comforting sound in the silence. A tear slipped down her pale cheek, falling down onto her lap. The door opened quietly and a male voice spoke._

"_Still awake, my love?"_

_The newcomer walked over to the window and took her in his arms gently. She closed her eyes as he rocked her back and forth in a comforting motion. He stroked her pale hair as she had the dove's feathers, murmuring to her quietly. A whisper sounded again in the darkness._

"_My love . . . my only love . . ."_

_Why are you so cruel?_

Seto's eyes shot open and he sat up, clutching his chest. His heart was beating painfully and he felt a sudden wave of grief overcome him. The woman seemed so sad and so lost, trying to find her love. He brought a hand up to his face when an unfamiliar, warm sensation accumulated there.

He touched his eyes and cheeks gingerly. It was warm and wet . . .

_Tears_.

Why was he crying because of a dream? There was no reason for him to cry. It wasn't like the woman meant anything to him. But the dull ache in his chest didn't go away and the tears in his eyes didn't dry up. He just felt so . . . grief stricken. Like some part of him had been ripped away and was out of reach.

_Not even a goodbye . . ._

--------

The phone rang.

Sleepily, Ryou dragged himself up from the pillows, reaching for the phone on his bedside table. Picking up the receiver, he held it up to his ear and murmured a quiet greeting. The voice on the other line was familiar.

"Ryou?"

He jolted awake at the voice, heart pounding.

"Y-Yami?"

"Ryou – I wanted to apologise," Yami said hesitantly. "I didn't mean to put pressure on you or anything . . . gomen nasai."

"Iie, Yami, I should be the one apologising," Ryou stammered. "I shouldn't have run away, gomen. It's not your fault."

Ryou heard Yami breathe a smile and he couldn't help but smile himself. They sat in silence for a few moments before the sound of beeping was heard in the background. The albino blinked, then realised that there was another call coming in. He apologised to Yami and they hung up. As soon as he did, the phone rang.

"Moshi moshi?"

"We need to talk."

"_Kaiba-kun_?"

"Do you have time now?" Kaiba asked.

"Is something wrong?"

"Stop answering my questions with questions!" Kaiba snapped. Then his voice softened. "Look, do you have time or not?"

"Well, yes, of course I do, but . . ."

"Then I'll meet you in front of your apartment in fifteen minutes."

The CEO hung up before Ryou could voice a protest. He sighed as he hung up, glancing at the digital clock on the table. 2:00 am. Did Yami or Kaiba _ever_ sleep? He was so tired, but the CEO was going to be here soon. Reluctantly, he dragged himself out of bed and pulled on a sweater and jeans.

--------

"_. . . She is not doing well . . . we request your presence in the capital immediately . . . prepare for the worst . . ."_

_The letter was clutched tightly, creasing it into a ball. The hand that held it was shaking badly. A wave of panic rose, stumbling out of the door to the stables, where a proud black stallion waited patiently. Mounting the stallion, a hand patted the powerful side and words were whispered._

"_God speed, Senkou. Like the wind."_

_The wind whipped through untamed hair, hooves pounding on the dirt road in the dead of the night. Hands gripped the reins tightly, shaking. The stallion did not need directions to know where to go. Its mind was at one with its rider, knowing exactly what to do and where to go._

"_Please be safe . . . please . . ."_

Ryou shook his head roughly, trembling. He was standing just inside the glass doors of his apartment complex, waiting for Kaiba to arrive. What was that about? His heart was still beating painfully, just like the person was in the dream . . . was it even a dream?

He raised a hand to his chest, breathing deeply to try and calm his heartbeat. The panic felt so real. He could still feel the whipping of the wind through his hair. And the name of the stallion . . . Senkou. It seemed to be so familiar.

"Ryou!"

The albino looked up and hurried out the door to greet Kaiba, who had just skidded his motorcycle to a halt in front of the complex. The brunette removed his helmet, looking the other in the eyes. His sapphire ones were troubled and deeply disturbed. Ryou instantly became concerned.

"Daijoubu ka, Kaiba-kun?"

"We need to talk somewhere privately," Kaiba said abruptly.

"Kaiba-kun . . ." he began.

"We need to talk."

"Why couldn't we over the phone?"

"This is much too important." He was handed another helmet. "Get on."

-------

He had finally made the connection he needed for answers. The albino woman in his dreams . . . she had the same hair and the same eyes as Ryou did. There was no mistaking the likeness. It wasn't the first time he had seen this. Every time he opened the book Ryou had lent him, he had had all these visions.

Scoffing at himself, he had thought it stupid. They were only pictures that had come to mind because of what the book had said. It wasn't anything important. But then the dream had come so suddenly and so realistically he couldn't avoid it.

He felt Ryou wrap his arms around his waist tightly, like he had done when the CEO had driven him home after the accident. The other boy was tired, he knew, but this was much too important. They needed to discuss this in a safe place.

"We're going to the lookout," he said curtly. He felt Ryou nod.

The lookout was a small, pagoda-like structure built on top of the hill overlooking Domino City. It wasn't very far out, but it was far enough for them not to be overheard. At this hour, no one would be there.

The drive there was uneventful, the roads and highways deserted in the early hours of the morning. He was pretty sure Ryou had dozed off, but the grip around his middle had not slackened. When they arrived, the lookout was indeed empty and thankfully so. Kaiba turned off the ignition and Ryou stirred.

"Are we there already?" he mumbled sleepily.

"Hai."

"What did you want to talk about so urgently, Kaiba-kun?"

"Come with me."

They went underneath the pagoda's vast and ancient-looking roof, making over to the edge of the railings overlooking the city. Kaiba frowned, making Ryou hesitate. The CEO wasn't pleased about something.

"The book you lent me . . ." Kaiba began, "is there any truth to it?"

"I-I should like to _think_ so," Ryou replied. "It is, after all, the history recorded over the ages about this city. But why the sudden curiosity?"

Kaiba leaned on the railings, the breeze picking up his neat hair.

"Certain – things have been happening when I read the book," he said slowly. "I am not one to believe in these things, but it is too coincidental."

Ryou held his breath, mind going back to the dream that had flashed before his eyes. He edged closer to the CEO and they were almost touching now.

"There's always this feeling of dejavu when I read it," he continued. "It's almost as if I've experienced it before. But just then, I had a – a _dream_ of sorts. About a woman, an albino woman . . . someone who looked like _you_."

"_Boku_?"

Kaiba's eyes bore into his. When he had told him about the woman, his voice had dropped to a whisper. This struck a chord within Ryou's mind and he remembered that same tone whispering in his dream.

"_God speed, Senkou. Like the wind."_

Kaiba turned to stare at him.

"What did you just say?"

Clapping a hand over his mouth, Ryou realised he had just spoken the words aloud. They seemed to come so naturally to him, as if his mouth had formed the words before and were merely repeating them . . . or as if he had heard it before. And the name – Senkou – it sounded so familiar.

"I had a brief dream before you arrived," the albino said quietly. "In it, someone was reading a letter. Something about a woman not being well . . . and then there was this black stallion. The person whispered to it and they left."

"What would this mean?"

"Do you think that – that maybe the book wants to tell us something?" Ryou whispered. "Maybe . . . maybe it's trying to give us a message."

Kaiba snorted contemptuously.

"Don't talk of such nonsense, Ryou," he said. "A book is an inanimate object."

"But you were the one who came to _me_," Ryou pointed out quietly. His eyes were deep in thought. "Besides, you said it yourself – it is much too coincidental. It must be trying to tell us something . . . but how can we find out what? This isn't _normal_."

Between the two of them, Kaiba and Ryou weren't stupid. In fact, they were far from it on their own. If it were left up to others, it would probably take another person to inform them of what was happening. But the CEO and the albino were top of their grade and their minds worked more quickly.

"Would the history teacher . . . would he know?"

"About what? The dreams?"

"Iie. The stories." Kaiba's fist rested on the railing. "The stories of the sixteenth dynasty. The Mutou rule. I'm fairly certain that's where all the scenes are coming from."

"I think so."

"And if he doesn't, he'll lose his job." Kaiba smirked.

--------

Yami went downstairs into the kitchen, pulling on his school jacket sleepily. He hadn't slept all night because he was worried about Ryou. Who would call him at such an insane hour? Well, beside him, of course. But Yami had a right to call – he _was_ Ryou's boyfriend after all.

Sitting at the kitchen table was his jiichan and Yugi, eating breakfast placidly. He yawned, alerting them to his presence, and sat down, pulling a plate and dumping a piece of toast onto it. He began buttering it when jiichan spoke up.

"You got a package in the mail, Yami."

"Sou ka?"

Sugoroku motioned vaguely at the rectangular package on the table. Curiosity wiped any sleepiness from Yami's mind and he quickly grabbed the box before Yugi could get to it. It was addressed to him very clearly, but with no return address. He raised an eyebrow at the logo in the top right hand corner of the box. _Industrial Illusions_?

"Isn't that the company who produced Duel Monsters?" Yugi asked, peering at the logo as well. "And the guy who created it is the president?"

"Pegasus J. Crawford," Sugoroku supplied helpfully. "Open it, Yami."

"Hai . . ."

He removed the box from the brown paper and opened it carefully. Inside was a maroon, fingerless glove with what looked like a metal cuff. There were star-shaped sockets around the cuff, ten in total, evenly spaced out. He blinked, then put aside the glove and turning to the other contents. There was a videotape and two gold stars.

"Nanda kore . . .?"

"Maybe the videotape will tell us something about it," Yugi piped, grabbing it and running to the living room. "Come on jiichan, niichan!"

He pushed the tape into the VHS machine and pressed the 'play' button. The screen flickered and began to glow brightly as the video started.

"_Mutou Yami_." The screen showed a silver-haired man dressed in a black suit with a scarf. He was smirking from behind the veil of hair that covered more than half his face. "_You have been invited to the Duellist Kingdom tournament I have organised to start tomorrow. Inside the package, you will see a glove and two star chips. These are your proofs of qualification. Tomorrow afternoon, you and the other Duellists will gather at Domino Port to be taken to my island_."

"Sounds interesting," Yami said with a grin. "Wonder who else is going to be there?"

"Bakura-kun maybe. And Kaiba-kun!"

Yami grimaced. His two biggest rivals were also very accomplished Duellists – both with ridiculously over-inflated egos and horrible attitudes. He had scores to settle with both of them and they were all connected with the way the two of them had treated Ryou. And for being so arrogant and annoying, of course.

"_I have allowed for each contestant to bring one spectator along_," Pegasus continued. "_After all, there should be witnesses to what will be the most legendary battle of Duel Monsters. The creator of the game, me, and the champion – the winner of Duellist Kingdom._"

"Hey, does that mean _I_ can go too?" Yugi asked excitedly.

"Aa, Yugi," Yami agreed. "After all, we're partners, aren't we?"

"What about school?"

"Ack, jiichan!" Yugi complained. "Don't remind us!"

"Come on, aibou," Yami said affectionately. He ruffled his 'partner's' hair. "Let's go, or we'll be late to school."

The TV screen went black and Sugoroku ejected the tape while Yami and Yugi wolfed down their breakfasts and left. He was proud of his two grandsons. They got along better than most siblings and had inherited his love of history and games. Yami especially was gifted in the gaming area, while Yugi excelled in history. He had to admit that he had raised very fine boys with very little help.

--------

Domino Port was crowded with Duellists of all ages. There were primary school boys who were busily discussing cards and strategies, teenagers who boasted about powerful cards and adults who just stood by and glared at the other competitors. Yami and Yugi mingled among them all, trying to see if there were any other people here who they knew.

And then Yugi saw it. A mop of unruly blonde hair came into view as they neared the boarding ramp. Yugi ran over, calling out excitedly.

"Jounouchi-kun! You're here too?"

Jounouchi turned around at the sound of Yugi's voice and grinned, flashing a thumbs-up sign to Yami, who returned it. He wore a Duellist Kingdom competitor's glove with two star chips lodged in the star-shaped sockets. Yami blinked.

"Did you get them in the mail as well?"

"Actually . . ." Jounouchi grinned sheepishly. "I didn't get any of this in the mail. I duelled a kid for them."

"Nani?"

"You see . . . my imouto, Shizuka, needs the prize money for an operation. If she doesn't have the operation, then she'll go blind. And really, three million dollars . . . it's more than enough to cover the operation and all her other needs while in hospital."

"Jounouchi-kun," Yugi said sympathetically, resting a hand on his friend's arm. "Gomen nasai . . . I didn't know. But you and niichan work hard, ne? I'll be cheering for both of you!"

"Yami-kun! Yuugi-kun! Jounouchi-kun!"

Running towards them was Ryou, with Bakura trailing behind, glaring at Yami. The tri-haired teen smiled warmly at Ryou, hugging him as the albino collided with his chest. Yugi, Jounouchi and Bakura blinked in surprise.

"When did _this_ happen?"

"Why didn't you tell me, niichan?"

"Let my otouto go, yarou!"

Ryou detached himself from Yami, smiling blissfully as the other answered for the both of them. Bakura yanked his younger brother by the arm, away from Yami, scowling angrily. He wasn't about to let Yami get anywhere close to Ryou during the tournament.

"I never knew you guys swung that way," Jounouchi blinked.

"You don't know _anything_, baka," Bakura sneered.

"Niisan . . ." Ryou cautioned, hitting him on the arm lightly.

"Why didn't you say anything before?"

"We – uh . . . kinda wanted to keep a low profile for a while," Yami admitted. He smiled at Ryou, who blushed. "Until we thought you guys should know."

Bakura's scowl deepened and he turned to Ryou accusingly.

"I thought you and _Kaiba_ were an item."

Yami frowned. Kaiba and _his _Ryou? He knew the CEO was up to no good when he was at Ryou's apartment. As Ryou's blush deepened, Yami started to feel almost insanely jealous. How dare Kaiba try and cut in between them like that! He stalked over to Ryou and tugged him away from Bakura, still frowning.

"What does he mean by _that_?" he asked quietly.

"Kaiba-kun came to take me to school the other day . . ." Ryou whispered, eyes wide as Yami's eyes flashed. "You knew about it – remember? When I sprained my ankle? Yami-kun, you aren't . . . mad at me, are you?"

--------

Jounouchi and Yugi watched this new development in confusion. First Yami and Ryou – now _Kaiba_ and Ryou? How many guys were after Ryou anyway? He looked very upset at the moment, and Bakura was smirking. After Ryou's whispered plea, Yami's eyes softened.

"Iya, I'm not mad." He looked over Ryou's shoulder and glared. "Kaiba."

Ryou spun around and came face to face with Kaiba Seto, who was being tailed by a black-haired boy with grey eyes. The boy bounced over to them, grinning widely. He immediately turned to Ryou, who looked at him with wide eyes.

"Konnichiwa!" he chirped. "You must be Bakura Ryou! Niisama told me about you! I can't believe you're here! Are you a duellist too? Too bad for you, niisama is the world champion!"

"Mokuba, that's enough." Kaiba put his hand on the boy's shoulder and pulled him away from Ryou, who was blinking in surprise.

"Kaiba-teme," Jounouchi growled.

"Kisama wa?" Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "They let dogs enter tournaments? Oh wait, you must be a spectator."

"Oh that's it! You're so gonna get it this time, Kaiba!"

Yugi and Yami held back Jounouchi, who was flailing his arms and kicking his legs, trying to reach Kaiba in vain. The CEO smirked and turned to the two albinos, nodding at Bakura and watching Ryou. The younger teen flushed.

"Glad to see your ankle has recovered, Ryou," Kaiba said.

"U-Un, arigatou Kaiba-kun." Ryou smiled at Mokuba. "Is he your brother?"

"Hai!" Mokuba chirped. "Name's Mokuba! Nice to meet you, Ryou-kun!"

Ryou smiled at the child's outgoing attitude, which seemed to be exactly opposite of his older brother's. Mokuba had a wide grin on his face, an eerie cross between a genuine smile and Kaiba's smirk. He still had qualities that reflected Kaiba's, but he made them much cuter and more likeable.

"Nice to meet you too, Mokuba-kun," Ryou said politely. He motioned to the others. "This is my niisan, Bakura, and my friends Yugi-kun, Jounouchi-kun and Yami-kun."

"Hi!"

Yugi and Jounouchi returned the greeting, the blonde having calmed down enough to not be restrained anymore. Yami only nodded curtly, still glaring at Kaiba. Mokuba looked around at them all, counting in his mind. He then turned to Jounouchi in question.

"Didn't you bring anyone with you?" he asked. "I mean, Ryou-kun must be with Bakura-kun and Yugi-kun with Yami-kun and I came with my niisama. Who came with you, Jounouchi-kun?"

"I'm waiting for Honda," Jounouchi replied, looking around.

While they waited for the said teen to arrive, Yami approached Kaiba. Ryou was currently busy being picked on by Bakura and Yugi and Jounouchi had gone into the crowd to find Honda. Mokuba clung to Ryou's shirt and conversed with them, gazing up at Ryou with admiration.

"You've got nice colour hair," he said. "It's the same length as mine, but yours is much nicer. Niisama thinks so too . . . well, he didn't _say_ it, but I think he does. I know my niisama well enough . . . are you niisama's friend? I think you should be his friend. He's lonely all the time and . . ."

"Keep away from Ryou, Kaiba," Yami ordered.

"Who I choose to associate with is none of your business," Kaiba replied.

"When it comes to Ryou, it is," the other retaliated. He glared. "I'm warning you now, Kaiba. If you dare lay one finger on Ryou _at all_, I will hunt you down personally and murder you. I don't want him to associate with the likes of _you_."

"Omoshiroi." Kaiba matched his glare evenly. "We'll see."

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End Chapter Four

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Author's Notes:

Kami-sama! This fic is back! I was watching Battle City again and decided that I _had_ to write this fic again. Especially when I watched the episode where Seto acknowledged Ryou (and said his name! Kami-sama! Squeal) and he's so cool . . . Ryou's so cute!

And so starts Duellist Kingdom . . .

REVIEW!

_Relinquished_


	5. The Journey to Duellist Kingdom

**A Legacy Unfinished**

Disclaimer: needless to say, if YGO belonged to me, this wouldn't be called a _fan_fic and I wouldn't be posting this on

Summary: Sequel to 'Identity'. The legacy carries on in a new timeline – modern Domino. Ryou and Seto face new problems the legacy holds in store for them. Semi-AU Duellist Kingdom and Battle City S/R YY/R

Chapter Title: The Journey to Duellist Kingdom

Warnings: yaoi, OOC, semi-AU, weirdness of character and DK, BC plot changing! If you don't like, DON'T READ! No one's holding a gun to your head and FORCING you to read this! And all flames will go to burning Anzu/Tea, and assisting Baku and Marik in their evil schemes.

Author's Notes: Hey, hey! I'm back! Can you believe that this fic isn't dead yet? I was half-expecting it to be discontinued forever! Anyway, so this fic isn't dead and it's going to continue on until I say it is!

When I say 'Alternate Universe', I mean that the yamis are in separate bodies from their hikaris. Yami is Yugi's older brother, Bakura is Ryou's and Marik is Malik's . . . like inside 'Identity'. The yamis are the Duellists, but they're all there, okay? I know the gang calls Ryou by either 'Bakura' or 'Bakura-kun', but in this he's still going to be Ryou and Y.B. will be called Bakura. Duellist Kingdom and Battle City plots will remain largely the same, but changes will be made to encompass the extra character participation.

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Chapter Five: The Journey to Duellist Kingdom

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The ship, though huge, was crowded with duellists and their one-friend entourage. The living quarters were large rooms for up to thirty duellists each, but special players had their own small quarters. Yami and Yugi were in one of those special quarters, while Kaiba and Mokuba were the same.

"No fair," Jounouchi complained. "How come you guys get rooms?"

"Because _you're_ not an acknowledged duellist," Kaiba sneered. "Come on, Mokuba, let's go."

They disappeared down the corridor, leaving Jounouchi and the others at the doorway of one of the common dorms. Bakura and Ryou were already inside, near the door, the elder of them marking their 'territory' with death glares at anyone who dared come within three feet of them. Ryou brought out a packet of chips, tugging on Bakura's sleeve, getting him to eat them.

"You'll be hungry soon, ne, niisan?" he coaxed. "Come on, just eat it."

Bakura grumbled, but he took the packet and polished it off. Ryou smiled at him, shaking his head. He took out Bakura's duelling deck and looked through the cards in interest.

"Do you think you'd be trading with anyone for some new cards?" he asked.

"Hn, I've perfected _my_ deck," Bakura growled. "Why should I give these slackers my cards?"

"Niisan . . ." Ryou placed the cards in a black metal case, laced with images of a metallic blue fire. "Here, I bought this for your deck, so your cards won't be damaged. Keep it in your pocket and don't lose it."

The other albino looked at the metal case, eyeing it over as if he were inspecting it. Then, as if it had passed some sort of test, he took it from Ryou and weighed it in his hand with a grin. Ruffling Ryou's hair – making him squeak in indignation – he pocketed it.

"Arigatou, Ryou."

"Anytime." Ryou smiled.

--------

Jounouchi, meanwhile, was flitting around between groups of duellists, introducing himself and asking to trade cards. Yugi and Yami trailed behind him, having let him and Honda stay in their room. The younger grinned and looked at his best friend in exasperation.

"He's very eager about this tournament," he commented to Yami.

"Aa," Yami agreed. "We all are."

"I'm Jounouchi Katsuya! Nice to meet you! Do you want to trade cards?"

Honda was taking full advantage of having living quarters away from the other duellists and was sleeping his heart out. Neither Kaiba, nor Mokuba, had been seen as yet. Ryou and Bakura were in the next dorm. Yami clapped his younger brother on the shoulder and looked pointedly at the doorway to the next dorm.

"Go ahead," Yugi assured him with a grin. "Spend some time with Ryou-kun."

Yami picked his way through the groups of duellists, declining offers to trade cards as he made his way to the door. He knew that Ryou and Bakura were near the door as he walked down the corridor. The room came into view and he heard very familiar voices talking.

"Look, I'm not saying that you can't be with who you want to . . ."

"Niisan, you said I could choose and I did."

"But why him? If you ask me, Kaiba's got a much better deal."

"I'm not looking for money, power or skills, niisan. I really think that Yami is the right choice for me. If you don't like it, gomen, but I'm sticking by my decision. Onegai . . ." Ryou's voice was pleading. "Niisan, onegai."

Bakura sighed. Yami inched closer, trying to listen in. He thought that maybe he shouldn't, since it seemed to be a private conversation, but it involved his and Ryou's relationship.

"Tousan told me to watch out for you when he went to Egypt," Bakura said. "He and I both know you swing that way . . . he's just scared that you'll be taken advantage of. If Yami does anything to make you cry, I'll murder him."

"Arigatou niisan!"

Ryou laughed and hugged his brother, knocking them both flat. Bakura growled something incoherently, shoving Ryou away, curling up next to his bag and falling asleep. Yami poked his head around the doorframe just in time to see Ryou pick himself up off the floor, placing a small blanket over his brother.

"Is the coast clear?" Yami asked in a stage whisper.

"Yami-kun!" Ryou exclaimed, a smile spreading across his features. "Niisan's just fallen asleep."

"Good." Yami reached out and grabbed his hand. "Let's go up onto deck."

--------

"It's so beautiful!"

Ryou leaned over the railing to look at the water, smiling at how the lights from the cabins danced over the waves. Yami stood next to him, admiring the view, which was, in his eyes, the albino boy next to him. He reached out and brushed a lock of hair behind Ryou's ear, causing the younger boy to flush.

"Gomen, did you want to talk to me or something?"

"Iie," Yami murmured. "I think I'll just stand here and admire you."

He smirked as Ryou flushed even deeper, and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. Then he moved closer and hugged him.

"I – I was talking to niisan just then," Ryou said, leaning against Yami's chest. "He's okay with our relationship."

Yami didn't tell him that he had overheard the conversation already, or, at least, the last part. Instead, he nodded and ran fingers through Ryou's hair. The younger boy buried his face against his shoulder and they stayed like that for a while, before a loud splash was heard.

"JOUNOUCHI-KUN!" they heard Yugi yell.

"Jounouchi-kun?" Ryou said, pulling away from Yami.

"Something's happened," Yami said, grabbing Ryou's hand. "Let's go!"

They ran towards the large crowd gathered near the bow. Yugi was in the centre of the crowd, leaning over the railing, yelling at someone in the water. Ryou glanced over and gasped. Jounouchi was there, struggling through the water and trying to grab something.

"Jounouchi-kun!" Yugi yelled.

"Yugi, what happened?" Yami demanded.

"We were talking to different duellists after you left and we met the Japanese regional champion, Insector Haga, and he was saying how he wanted to see the five Exodia Cards." Yugi looked down guiltily. "I figured that it wouldn't be too bad, since he only wanted to look at them, but he – niichan, he _threw the cards into the water!_"

"NANI?" Yami ran to the railings. "And Jounouchi-kun jumped down to get them? Is he _insane_? The impact could have killed him!"

And Jounouchi had stopped swimming around, trying to gather the five cards. He didn't even look like he was treading water. Ryou realised what was happening and turned to Yami.

"He's got a cramp!" he said, startled. "He'll drown if we don't help him!"

Without another word, Ryou kicked off his shoes and dived into the water. Yami watched him worriedly, seeing him swim towards Jounouchi and realised that the two of them wouldn't be able to get back up. He grabbed the red and white buoy (A/N: you know those lifesaver things ... I don't know the name for it) from its rack and threw it down to Ryou, who grabbed it and looped it around the blonde's body.

"Hold on, Ryou!" Yami yelled. "I'll pull you guys up!"

--------

Jounouchi came through with a cramp in his calf muscle and three of the five Exodia Cards. The other two, he said, were so soaked, they were torn apart by the waves against the boat. Yugi and Yami both assured him that he didn't have to apologise about not getting the other two.

"You shouldn't have gone down there in the first place," Yugi chided. "Neither of us want a friend to risk their life because of a card."

Ryou, however, was a different story. He was a skilled swimmer, but he was also born with poor health. Coming out of the water, he was numb and his lips had turned blue with cold (A/N: I'm the same, actually). He wouldn't stop shaking and his teeth were chattering so badly, he couldn't speak.

"Let's get you warmed up," Yami said gently. "Come on."

He took of his jacket and wrapped it around Ryou's trembling shoulders. Then, when Yugi had made a pathway through the crowd, he carried the boy bride-style down into the cabins. Yugi followed them, helping Jounouchi, who was leaning heavily on him after the cramp had mostly passed away.

Bakura was right there, inside, looking sleepy and ready to bitch at them. He snatched Ryou away from Yami's arms immediately, glaring at his arch rival, then stormed off in the direction of the dorms, muttering about careless, tri-colour haired teens. Yami looked sorely tempted to follow, but he decided against it, seeing as Bakura already looked as if he wanted to murder him.

"Daijoubu, niichan," Yugi said reassuringly. "Bakura-kun will take care of Ryou-kun. You're all wet, you have to change out of that shirt before you catch a cold of your own. Come on, Jounouchi-kun, you too."

Jounouchi sneezed, sniffed and followed Yugi back to the room.

"Come on, Yami!" Jounouchi called back over his shoulder.

"Coming, coming."

Yami sighed. He really wanted to see how Ryou was, but it wasn't a good time now. He trudged off after Yugi and Jounouchi.

--------

Bakura set Ryou down in their part of the dorm room, taking off Yami's jacket and tossing it aside. He reached into a bag and pulled out a towel and began to dry Ryou's hair thoroughly, messing it up in the process. Ryou remained chattering, huddled in his wet clothes.

"Do I have to change you as well?" Bakura demanded.

When there was no reply, Bakura sighed. He opened Ryou's bag and brought out a cream-coloured sweater, a green button-up shirt and faded jeans. He looked at his brother's feet and noted that he would have to get his sneakers back later. He lifted the T-shirt off Ryou's body and put it aside, patting him dry with the towel. He then pulled the shirt on and buttoned it up. The chattering in Ryou's teeth was stopping.

"Can you move?"

"E-Ee," Ryou replied shakily. He took the jeans from Bakura. "Arigatou."

The elder stood guard while he pulled on the jeans. Everyone was busy with their own thing and didn't pay any attention to them. When he had finished changing, Ryou tapped Bakura on the shoulder.

"Arigatou, niisan."

"You shouldn't have gone down, you know," Bakura told him. "If you had drowned, what am I going to tell tousan?"

"I had to save Jounouchi-kun," Ryou replied. "And besides, I knew Yami-kun would save me."

Bakura sniffed and looked at his younger brother through the corner of his eye. His expression told Ryou that he did not trust the other one bit. Pulling on the sweater over his shirt, Ryou stood up. And sneezed.

"You've caught a cold, baka," Bakura said, rolling his eyes. "Good. At least I'll know if Yami tries anything funny. Infect him with it too, baka otouto."

"Niisan . . ."

"Go to sleep," Bakura ordered. "Otherwise, take a shower. That salty water can't be good for your skin, or your hair. I suggest you take a shower though. It'll warm you up more and you don't have to stink like the ocean."

"I think the ocean is beautiful."

"Yeah well, I don't."

Shaking his head in amusement, Ryou gathered his things and left for the showers. Bakura huffed and sat down between their bags, folding his arms and resumed glaring at anyone who dare tried to approach him.

--------

Sighing blissfully, Ryou came out from the showers, only to pass Mokuba as he ran by in nothing but a towel. The albino blinked as, moments later, he ran by again, this time fully clothed. Maybe he was just seeing things and the child _hadn't_ run past the first time. Shaking his head in confusion, Ryou continued down the corridor to the dorm he and Bakura were staying in.

"I heard about how you saved the make inu," a deep voice said behind him.

Kaiba stood there, immaculate as ever, a towel folded over one arm. Ryou flushed, slowly pulling down the towel from his head, not meeting the CEO's eyes. The other smirked and approached him, motioning for him to walk alongside.

"You could have just thrown him the buoy."

"Nani?"

"I said, you could have just thrown him the buoy," Kaiba repeated, not looking at him. "It would be more common sense."

"I – I hadn't thought of that," Ryou confessed. "I just did the first thing that came to my head at the time. But you're right, it would have saved me from catching a cold."

The CEO reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a small, rectangular box. He held it out to him with one arm, still not looking back. Ryou took the box, wondering what on earth he was trying to do. He glanced down at the box and saw that it was cold and flu tablets.

"A-Arigatou," he stammered. "Demo . . . naze?"

"I always come prepared with things like this," Kaiba said shortly. "Especially if I bring Mokuba."

They continued to walk in silence until the end of the corridor. Kaiba and Mokuba's rooms were on the left and Ryou's dorm was on the right. Nodding curtly to him, Kaiba turned to leave. Remembering something, Ryou called out before he could stop himself.

"A-Anou, Kaiba-kun!" Kaiba turned around to look at him. "That time, in the classroom . . . gomen. I didn't mean to bother you with my problems."

"Hn, whatever."

"Demo . . . arigatou." Ryou smiled. "It really helped."

He bowed hastily and left, hurrying down the corridor to his dorm. Kaiba stood there, watching his retreating form. He had thanked him for letting him cry? His eyes told the CEO that he had meant it too. No one had ever thanked him genuinely, or bothered with manners unless it were necessary. There was no malice whatsoever in the albino boy and he didn't hold the hatred his friends had for him, which was an amazing feat in itself.

_You intrigue me, Bakura Ryou_, he thought silently. _First those visions and now . . . are you always this open to people?_

"Niisama! Hurry up!" Mokuba was back, hands resting on his hips as he came out from their room. "You take so long to get here!"

"I'm coming, Mokuba."

With one last glance in Ryou's direction, Kaiba followed Mokuba back into the room.

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The ship docked onto Duellist Kingdom the next morning. The island was isolated from the mainland and was covered from top to bottom with thick forest, except for the castle at the top of the tallest hill. They were led towards the foot of the hill, at the bottom of the long flight of stairs that led to the main doors.

"This is it, Yugi," Yami said, looking up at the castle. "Duellist Kingdom."

"I'm nervous, niichan."

"Yeah, me too," Yami agreed, grinning.

"Ganbatte niichan, Jounouchi-kun, Bakura-kun!"

_I'm going to win this tournament_, Yami vowed, glancing over at Kaiba. _I'm going to prove to that egotistical jerk that he won't ever win Ryou from me._

Ryou hugged him around the waist, smiling brightly.

"Ganbatte ne, Yami-kun!" he whispered happily, before going back to Bakura.

"ALL RIGHT!" Jounouchi yelled, punching the air. "LET'S WIN THIS!"

"Don't get too confident, zako," Kaiba sneered. "With your skills, you'd probably be kicked out after your first duel."

"Kaiba-teme," Jounouchi growled. He was ready to attack, when Yami stepped in between them. "Yami! Let me teach this guy a lesson!"

"Calm down, Jounouchi-kun," Yami said firmly.

_You're not going to beat me, Mutou_, Kaiba said silently. _I'm already the world champion. The title of Duellist Kingdom champion is something very small. But I'm not going to let you take that title, because I'll be the one who beats Pegasus._

The surrounding chatter died down as a red-clad figure came into view, on top of the battlements of the castle. Everyone looked up at Pegasus, who smiled at them all and raised his arms.

"Welcome, all of you, to Duellist Kingdom!" he shouted. "I'm glad you could all make it. I trust the duellists have all brought their duelling gloves, decks and the two qualifying star chips with them. The tournament will last for two days and at the end of the second day, whoever has ten star chips will be allowed inside the castle for the finals. Remember, there's only room for four duellists!

"You will be duelling with state-of-the-art arenas located around the island. During these two days you can go anywhere you like, except the castle, of course. The qualifying four duellists and their companions will enter the castle and the rest will return home.

"And now, the moment you have all been waiting for!" Pegasus paused dramatically and did a flourishing bow. "When fireworks light up the sky, Duellist Kingdom tournament shall begin!"

He left the battlements and went back into the castle. A final round of well-wishing started up, everyone shaking each other's hands and clapping each other on the back. Mokuba hugged Ryou around the middle, waved to Bakura and wished everyone good luck.

"Ganbatte, Kaiba-kun," Ryou said, smiling at the CEO.

"Hn." Kaiba nodded. "I'll see you all at the finals – if they're lucky."

"I'm sure you'll all be," the albino replied.

With a final nod, they parted ways as the fireworks lit up the sky.

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End Chapter Five

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Author's Notes:

Another chapter finished! This took a surprisingly short two days (I only started yesterday), compared to 'Tenshi no Kokoro', which took me four.

I have a problem. Since Bakura was never a finalist in Duellist Kingdom, how am I supposed to fit him in there? And Seto too, come to think of it. Maybe I should just not have Keith or Mai and let Seto and Bakura replace them? Then there won't be any not-Yugi-tachi to beat!

See my fix?

REVIEW!

Relinquished


	6. First Duel

**A Legacy Unfinished**

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh because, despite all references I have, I _still_ can't draw any of them.

Summary: Sequel to 'Identity'. The legacy carries on in a new timeline – modern Domino. Ryou and Seto face new problems the legacy holds in store for them. Semi-AU Duellist Kingdom and Battle City S/R YY/R

Chapter Title: First Duel

Warnings: yaoi, OOC, swearing, semi-AU, weirdness of character and DK, BC plot changing! If you don't like, DON'T READ! And all flames will go to burning Anzu/Tea, and assisting Baku and Marik in their evil schemes.

Author's Notes: All right, Mai and Keith are still in the game. I'll take care of Seto and Bakura's whereabouts, ok? Now, onto the fic!

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Chapter Six: First Duel

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Yugi and Jounouchi spotted a familiar figure lurking in the bushes only moments after the fireworks had ended. The blonde shouted above the noise of the other contestants, causing Yami to turn around and look at what he was pointing at.

"Oi!" Jounouchi shouted. "You there!"

"Jounouchi-kun, what's wrong?"

"It's him!" Yugi said. "He's the one who threw away the Exodia Cards!"

And Yami recognised him too. He had seen the green-haired duellist on television during the regional championships. There was no mistaking the insect-shaped glasses and the permanent smirk plastered to that pasty face. It was the kind of look that made him want to just snap and give him a taste of his fist.

"He's running away!"

"Follow him then," Yami said, running. "Come on!"

Haga led them through the thick of the contestants, earning themselves shouts of annoyance. He disappeared into the forests. Without hesitation, Jounouchi, Honda, Yugi and Yami followed him, leaving the others behind. Ryou blinked at how fast his boyfriend just ran off, but shrugged and followed Bakura elsewhere.

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They followed Haga into the forest, where they were instantly swarmed by moths. Covering their faces, the four of them ran on, barely managing to make out Haga's figure up ahead, running in the distance. Jounouchi yelled at him to stop, but the duellist didn't seem to hear anything.

"Who set the rules so that the whole island is a battleground?" Jounouchi said angrily, swatting away the moths.

_That's a good point,_ Yami thought. _Why such a big battleground for a simple card tournament? There must be a reason._

"Remember what Haga said back on the ship?" Yugi asked, calling over his shoulder. "Something about there being a new rule in the tournament."

"Oh yeah . . ." Jounouchi said.

Yami frowned. He hadn't been there when Yugi and Jounouchi were told about the new tournament rule, but he had a bad feeling about it. Besides, then it would explain the reason why Haga would go to all this trouble to lure them into the forest instead of just battling them there and then.

Suddenly, the trees gave way to an open clearing. Haga was standing on the other end of the clearing, smirking at them. Yami, Yugi, Honda and Jounouchi stopped, glaring at him.

"Haga!"

The green-haired duellist cackled at them. Yugi started forward.

"You threw away Jiichan's Exodia cards!" he shouted.

"I won't forgive you for it," Yami said angrily. "I challenge you to a duel."

"That's good," Haga said, grinning evilly. "You're the one who beat Kaiba! When I beat you, I'll be the winner of this whole tournament for sure!"

"We'll see about that."

"DUEL START!"

For a brief moment, nothing happened. Then the ground began to tremble violently, sending them all off-balance. Jounouchi cursed as he grabbed onto Honda for support. Haga's cackles were heard over the trembling. Yami gritted his teeth.

"What's this . . .?"

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Bakura carried his backpack as he dragged Ryou away from the crowd of duellists, muttering something about 'stupid tournaments'. Ryou sighed in exasperation and amusement, shaking his head. His brother was a very, very impulsive person and liked to act on his emotions, which often got them both into a lot of trouble.

"Ne, niisan, what are you doing?"

"Going to find somewhere quiet."

"Aren't you going to duel?"

"That, baka otouto, will be a matter of whether the people who approach me are worthy of my time."

Ryou sighed again, looking back towards the dispersing crowds. He wanted to follow Yami and watch _him_ duel. Those duels were always so exciting. But he had run off after Insector Haga, supposedly for a duel of their own, so he had no choice but to follow his brother. Not after farewelling a certain CEO and his younger brother of course, just to be polite.

He sniffed a little, the cold still bothering him. Swinging the bag forward so that it was now in front of him, he rummaged inside for the pack of tablets Kaiba had given him on the ship. As he was going through one of the pockets, his cell phone began to ring.

"Moshi moshi?" he said in to the phone.

"Ryou?"

"Tousan?"

Bakura realised he had stopped walking and turned around, seeing him on the phone. Ryou mouthed 'tousan' and pointed to the phone, earning himself a nod of acknowledgment.

"Where are you?"

"Oh, tousan, niisan and I are at a tournament," Ryou said quickly. "It's a Duel Monsters' tournament held by Pegasus. I left a note on the fridge."

"You did?" his father sounded surprised. "Oh, wait, I see it now. Gomen, I should have checked before I doubted your responsibility. I just panicked when the two of you weren't home and when your brother didn't pick up . . ."

"Niisan never turns on his cell phone," Ryou said, shooting an accusing glare in Bakura's direction. "Don't bother with it."

"Oh well . . . let me talk to him for a sec."

Ryou held out the phone to his brother, who glared at him questioningly. He shrugged and mouthed 'he wants to talk to you'. Rolling his eyes, Bakura took the phone from his younger brother and drawled out a lazy 'hey, tousan.' Ryou winced as he heard his father's voice from inside the tiny machine.

"_I gave you the cell phone for a reason!_" he was screeching. "_You almost gave me a heart attack when you didn't pick up! Why can't you be responsible?_"

"Itai," Bakura grumbled, holding the phone away from his ear. "Hai, hai, tousan, I get your point. I'll turn on my cell phone when I get home and charge the batteries. Yeah, yeah . . . we'll be back in a week or so, if I get into the finals. Otherwise . . . look, the most a week, ok? All right! See ya!"

He hung up, growling murderously under his breath.

"He hasn't yelled that loud since the time we went to the amusement park by ourselves. If I remember correctly, he yelled at me for being 'irresponsible' and 'setting a bad example for your otouto'."

"You can't really blame him," Ryou said, stuffing his phone back into his bag. "I mean, really. The time _you_ took _me_ to the amusement park was shortly after kaasan's death. We were all agitated."

In a rare moment of affection, Bakura reached over and ruffled his younger brother's hair. Ryou squeaked indignantly, but smiled nevertheless. Despite the cold and uncaring, bad boy attitude that Bakura often adopted, he was very protective where Ryou was concerned.

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The ground split open to reveal a large, rectangular hole. The sound of mechanical whirring sounded over the trembling of the ground, alerting Yami to the fact that something was rising from inside the opening. He braced himself for any surprises while Haga just kept laughing.

A large, metallic object rose up from the ground. It was blue on one side and red on the other. The middle space was just grey with a large number 15 painted on the side. From both ends of the rectangular space rose towers. When everything seemed to be in place, the ground stopped its shaking. Yami's eyes widened in recognition at the object in front of them.

"This is the duelling arena we will be using," Haga said.

"The duelling arena . . ." Yami repeated.

"You mean the whole island is installed with heaps of these things?" Jounouchi yelped, staring at the duelling arena.

"Come on, Yami, let's begin!"

Haga ran to the red platform, dropping his bag down at his feet. The platform rose immediately so that he was now standing on top of the tower, overlooking the stadium. On the blue end, Yami came up also.

"We both have two star chips," Haga smirked. "So we're even. I bet one star chip on the outcome of this duel."

"No, I want you to bet on _both_ your star chips," Yami said.

"Nani?"

"Only one of us can stay here."

"And if I don't?" Haga's smirk widened. "Can you bet with something that _I_ will be happy with?"

"Our identity as a duellist," Yami said without hesitation. "Our decks."

"Omoshiroi," Haga smirked. "That's fine with me. If I had known this sooner, then I wouldn't have thrown away your Exodia cards."

On the ground, Jounouchi, Yugi and Honda were staring in horror. Yami wanted to bet his _deck_ on the outcome of the duel? Yugi knew how much his Duel Monsters deck meant to his brother, and yet he was still willing to put his deck and his duelling career on the line . . .

"You can beat him, Yami!" Jounouchi yelled.

People were beginning to gather from the edges of the trees.

"Look, minna! There's a duel over there!" a guy yelled.

"That's Japan's number one duellist, Insector Haga and . . . that's . . ."

Jounouchi smirked and turned around to face the two boys.

"That's Mutou Yami, the one who beat world champion Kaiba," he told them. Then he jabbed a thumb to his own chest. "And I'm his friend, Jounouchi."

The people appearing were stunned. They looked up at the two duellists on the platform in awe and surprise.

"Yami and Haga?" they repeated. "Oh wow, a battle of kings!"

"Let's begin, Yami!" Haga crowed.

The playing field between them began to glow and holographic images of grassland flickered into view. But Yami and Haga paid it no mind, eyes focused on their opponent as they began the duel.

"DUEL!"

The life point counters turned to 2000. Haga called his turn and drew a card from his deck, smirking at Yami.

"The card I just drew is the Killer Bee (1200/1000). I play it in attack mode!"

The simulators inside the field hummed to life and a holographic image of the Killer Bee flickered to life, hovering over its square. Undaunted, Yami drew his own card.

"The card I play is Mammoth Graveyard (1200/800)," he said clearly. "I summon it in attack mode!"

Mammoth Graveyard appeared on the field, opposite the Killer Bee.

"Our monsters both have the same number of attack points. BATTLE!"

Haga only laughed.

"Let's go Killer Bee!" he shouted. "Attack!"

The two monsters collided in the centre of the field. Then, Mammoth Graveyard disappeared from the field, much to Yami's shock and Haga's amusement.

"Killer Bee has defeated Mammoth Graveyard."

_But the attack points are the same_, Yami thought to himself in shock. _How did my Mammoth Graveyard get defeated?_

"You're probably wondering why I chose this particular field for our duel," Haga said, grinning maniacally. "Well, let me tell you this: I am the only one Pegasus has told about this new tournament rule. Look at the field. It's 80 forest and 20 grassland. This field is the perfect place for my insect cards, so my insect cards' points are boosted up from the power in this field. So both the attack and defence points receive a 30 power up!"

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Two albino boys, no matter how tough one of them looked, was easy prey in the eyes of someone who had malicious intent. That was how, a little after their father's phone call, Bakura and Ryou found themselves surrounded by a gang of duellists, all taller and more fit than they were. Bakura stood protectively in front of Ryou, glaring at the others.

"What do you want?" he growled.

"Two girly-boys like you shouldn't be here," the leader sniggered. He had blonde hair tied up underneath a bandanna and an unshaven look. "I doubt you even know how to duel."

"Niisan . . ." Ryou whispered, eyes wide with fear.

"Get lost, buggers," Bakura said, waving his hand regally, his voice and expression mocking. "You wouldn't be able to beat me in a duel."

"Who said we wanted to _duel_ you?" the ringleader asked.

"Then what do you want?"

"Oh, the company of your beautiful otouto here," the blonde said lazily, looking Ryou up and down. "And your star chips."

"Over my dead body," Bakura spat.

The blonde leader snarled and leapt for Ryou, who shrunk back behind Bakura. The elder albino punched their attacker in the face, knocking him backwards and sprawling on the ground. He scrambled to his feet, clutching his jaw painfully.

"Nobody punches Bandit Keith and gets away with it," he growled.

"RYOU RUN!" Bakura shouted, shoving his younger brother away. "Run and don't look back!"

"Niisan!" Ryou yelled, looking back at Bakura in horror as he obeyed. "Be careful! I'll meet you back where we started, all right?"

Bakura shouted back an affirmative and turned back to the gang. He swore. Half the guys had gone after Ryou, who had never been a fighter. It was times like these he wished he had bothered to teach Ryou basic self defence. At least, if he couldn't outrun them, then he could do them _some_ injury, like a knee in the balls or something. If they got Ryou, they would get his star chips as well. He had left them with Ryou in case he lost them.

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Ryou ran and ran, knowing all too well that there were three guys at his tail. He kept running, glad that, instead of bringing a sports bag to this tournament, he had brought a backpack. It was still a heavy weight, of course, but at least it wasn't slipping off his shoulder every few seconds.

"You're so gonna regret this when we catch you kid."

_That's _if, Ryou thought. _I might not have power, but I have stamina_.

But then someone lunged at him from the side, knocking him into the bushes as he turned the corner. His scream was muffled by a hand over his mouth and he was pinned down beneath a tall, lean body. So he just lay there quietly, eyes wide, as his pursuers ran off in another direction.

"Daijoubu ka?" the person above him whispered in a _very_ familiar voice.

Ryou nodded, relief washing over him. The hand was removed from his mouth and the body lifted off his as Kaiba went to check whether or not the pursuers had really gone. The albino dragged himself into a sitting position, gathering his wits about him enough to calm down.

"A-Arigatou, Kaiba-kun," he whispered.

"It was nothing," Kaiba replied, crouching down in front of him. "Just tell me why those guys were after you."

"I-I don't know. Niisan and I were just walking . . . and then these guys just surrounded us and – and they wanted –"

He looked ready to burst into tears. Kaiba sighed, wrapping an arm around his back and lifting him to his feet gently but firmly. When Ryou's knees buckled, the CEO took the bag from his back and guided his hand so that it was around his shoulders.

"I'm meeting niisan back where the tournament started," Ryou whispered. "In front of Pegasus' castle."

"Let's wait for Mokuba first," Kaiba said. "MOKUBA!"

A small figure trotted out from behind nearby bushes. Mokuba grinned up at his brother and the albino.

"Ready to go, niisama?" he chirped.

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End Chapter Six 

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Author's Notes:

I'm not gonna write the rest of the Haga-Yami duel because we ALL know who's going to win. Instead, I'm going to skip a few duels, change a few things and yada . . .

Review!

Relinquished


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